Someone turn on Memphis Music!
The web presence for the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission and Memphis Music Foundation has been down for over a week. A week!
I called them a week ago to tell them it was down.There was nobody there No one answered, so I left a message.
Big friggin' deal, you say. I say, yes, big friggin' deal.
Do a web search for "Memphis music".
Often missed as we dash between the brother poles of press release hype and disfunked reality -- Memphis' creativity.
Update: Slight correction. When I called the Foundation/Commission, I got their voice mail. They may have been there. I don't know.
I called them a week ago to tell them it was down.
Big friggin' deal, you say. I say, yes, big friggin' deal.
Do a web search for "Memphis music".
- If you search Google, the first hit you get is that website (the second is Live from Memphis).
- If you search Yahoo, it's the third hit (behind 2 pages of the CVB).
Often missed as we dash between the brother poles of press release hype and disfunked reality -- Memphis' creativity.
Update: Slight correction. When I called the Foundation/Commission, I got their voice mail. They may have been there. I don't know.
Labels: Memphis, Memphis media, Memphis music
posted by gatesofmemphis at 5:21 PM
7 Comments:
Sad but true--even sadder when one thinks of how many months (years?) the Memphis Music Commission/Foundation had placeholder page at memphismusic.org that said the page was "coming soon." It was perhaps the most glaring example of the ineptitude of the Commission's leadership at the time.
It speaks to a larger issue that this is not a bigger issue among members of the local music industry. What exactly did the website do? What was it supposed to do? Who was it intended for?
Bear in mind that you could ask all of these same questions about the Commission itself...
Also: according to WhoIs, the Music Commission's ownership of the domain name expires on August 9!
This is part of the larger picture of Memphis not being promoted properly under current leadership.
A telling example: In the recent Oxford American magazine, Craig Brewer's Hustle and Flow is featured in a clip on the accompanying DVD. However, I read the issue cover to cover and found ads for every film agency EXCEPT Memphis. When Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Florida advertise in this sought-after publication and Memphis does not, all I can say is: current leadership, while no doubt doing what they can, is not promoting Memphis to the extent it could be promoted, whether in the medium of film OR music, and this is part of the problem with our current economy, quality of life, you fill in the blank: _______.
Even something as simple as advertising in the Oxford American is a step in the right direction. Memphis can and should be promoted to the fullest extent under new leadership. VOTE, please!
ruralfreedelivery, well we have another glaring example. It wouldn't be such a big deal if this were just a forgotten bureau in local government. But this org gets a lot of press on its leadership in the revitilization of Memphis music. In fact there was an editorial in today's CA that mentioned the Sam Phillips Center. Good for me, since at this point my post is the top google hit for that (probably 'cause google's algorithms take into account dead websites).
Good catch on that WhoIs query, by the way. We'll see what happens when August 9th rolls around.
...Memphis...needs new leadership...needs a new focus...Memphis
Not to beat this to death, but I checked the WhoIs registry again today... MemphisMusic.org has now been renewed under the name of Shelby County IT staffer Jim Broadbent, through September 2012. I guess I'm glad to know that it won't get pirated on August 9... but there's still no assurance that the Commission or its online presence will ever do or mean anything substantial. What a shame.
rfd, memphis music is up again, as least as of yesterday (maybe earlier but yesterday was the first time I checked in a few days). Right now, it's a nice logo which is a link to their myspace page. I think it's a good start because myspace and their ilk will allow them to be much more dynamic and inclusive without being web geeks.
I'm going to write another post about it, but communication is good and they don't have to spend a million dollars communicating via the web.
Ah, indeed you're right. I checked it right before I made my post, and was getting the same "page not found" message. Probably a hiccup in my brower cache. The new logo looks great, I wonder who designed it.
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